Rogue Valley News, Monday 11/6 – Fall Out From Fight at South Medford Panther’s Game Friday Night & Other Local and Statewide News…

Portland Teacher Strike Continues

Negotiations between Portland Public Schools and Portland Association of Teachers continued Saturday and Sunday, but the two sides had not reached an agreement by Sunday evening. With teachers not planning to show up to school Monday, the district is set to cancel classes for a third day, after cancellations on Nov. 1-2.

Teachers at Portland Public Schools, Oregon’s largest school district, have been on strike since Nov. 1. PAT and PPS differ on spending on wages and planning time for staff and teachers, among other issues.

Union members said on Saturday that if an agreement wasn’t reached by Sunday, picket lines would resume at school sites at 8 a.m. Monday.

Federal Judge Orders Oregon Counties to Release Criminal Defendants from Jail If They Aren’t Appointed An Attorney Within a Week of Their First Court Appearance

A federal judge ordered Oregon counties to release criminal defendants from jail if they aren’t appointed an attorney within a week of their first court appearance. The ruling will go into effect November 16th.

The state is one of many that have struggled to ensure their public defense systems meet the requirements of the U.S. Constitution’s Sixth Amendment, and Oregon has faced multiple lawsuits over the issue in recent years.

Ruling Thursday in a case filed this year by the Federal Public Defender’s Office, U.S. District Judge Michael McShane said indigent defendants are essentially being locked up and deprived of a voice simply because they are too poor to hire their own lawyer.

“While the reasons underlying the shortage of publicly funded attorneys in Oregon are complex, all parties agree that the state is facing a crisis in its constitutional mandate to provide qualified attorneys to those charged with crimes,” McShane wrote.

Fixing the problem will take systemic change and time, the judge said, “But the luxury of time, unfortunately, is not something that many petitioners have when faced with a criminal prosecution.”

Roughly 135 people were in Oregon jails without access to attorneys at the end of October, the judge said. Many of them had technically been appointed public defenders but no attorney ever actually showed up to represent them. State laws generally require that criminal defendants have their first court appearance within 36 hours of being arrested, though that time frame doesn’t include weekends.

Judges in Multnomah County, which is home to Portland, routinely dismiss cases due to a lack of defense attorneys. More than 300 cases, most of them felonies, were dismissed in 2022.

The county’s top prosecutor, Mike Schmidt, has called the shortage “an urgent threat to public safety” and said 10 cases were dismissed between Oct. 20 and Nov. 2.

Public defenders say uncompetitive pay, high stress and overwhelming caseloads affect staffing levels, and the state has historically relied on a contracting system that made it difficult to track which attorneys are assigned to which cases. Lawmakers passed a public defense reform bill earlier this year, but the reforms will take time to implement.

The U.S. Constitution says people charged with a crime have a right to an attorney, but it’s up to states to decide how to make sure that happens. States have carried out that constitutional mandate with varying degrees of success.

“America’s dirty little secret is that thousands of people go to jail every single day in our country without ever having spoken to an attorney,” said David Carroll, executive director and founder of the Sixth Amendment Center, which advocates for equal access in the criminal justice system.

Earlier this year the Mississippi Supreme Court changed that state’s rules so that poor criminal defendants must be appointed an attorney before they are indicted. The indictment process in Mississippi can sometimes take a year or more, forcing indigent criminal defendants to spend months or longer in jail without anyone to fight for their legal rights, Carroll said.

But Mississippi, like most states, lacks enforcement mechanisms to make sure the criminal defense requirements are actually followed, Carroll said.

The lack of enforcement mechanisms means improvements are sometimes forced by lawsuits rather than legislation.

In August the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine obtained a settlement over the failure of that state’s public defender system with a state agency’s commitment to press for more funding, additional public defender offices and other improvements.

A 2004 ruling in a Missouri state court took action similar to this week’s Oregon ruling, ordering that indigent inmates could not be held in lieu of bail for more than seven days without an attorney. But civil rights advocates said the problems continued, and additional lawsuits were filed in 2017 and 2020. In February of this year, a state judge ordered that poor defendants facing imprisonment must be provided a public defender no later than two weeks after they qualify for representation.

2 People Dead In MAX Train Collision

Two people died after being hit by a MAX train in Northeast Portland late Saturday night, the Portland Police Bureau and TriMet reported.

Portland police said responding officers found two people dead at the scene who were hit by a MAX light rail train.

The two individuals were within the restricted area of the train tracks along I-84 at Northeast 28th Avenue when they were hit at around 9:39 p.m. Saturday. Portland police said that a car was damaged in a single vehicle crash along the freeway resulting in no injuries. Speeding is believed to be a factor in the crash. After the crash, the two people in the crashed car jumped over a barrier to pick up a car part that was in a restricted area of the train tracks. While retrieving the part they were both struck by the train.

All I-84 westbound lanes between Northeast 43rd Avenue and I-5 were closed for several hours.

The blue, green and red line services were disrupted for several hours, reopening around 6:14 a.m. Sunday. During the disruption, shuttle buses provided service for the area.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to email Portland police at crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov with the subject as attn: Traffic Investigations Unit. The reference case number is 23-288616.

In late October, a man was killed by a MAX train in Gresham. The man was within the restricted area of the train tracks and may have been wearing headphones. In September 2021, a woman died after she was hit by a MAX train traveling west between the Civic Drive station and Ruby Junction, and then in November 2022, a man died after he “inadvertently” walked in front of a train traveling west in the area of East Burnside Street and Southeast 197th Avenue.

Reporting at the time said all three victims were inside the restricted area of the tracks when they were hit. (SOURCE)

Enrollment In Individual Health Insurance Now Open Through Mid-January

The tens of thousands of Oregonians who buy their own health insurance can now start shopping for the best plan for next year.

Open enrollment on the federal online marketplace, which Oregon will continue to use for the next few years, runs this year from Nov. 1 through Jan. 16. Those who enroll by Dec. 15 will be covered starting Jan. 1, and those who sign up after that will be covered starting Feb. 1.

Premiums will increase 6% next year on average but individuals can obtain subsidies through the marketplace to reduce costs. The subsidies come in the form of tax credits that can be used throughout the year or at tax time. In the past, around 70% of those who applied obtained financial help. That jumped to 80% last year, according to Amy Coven at the Oregon Health Authority, which oversees health insurance enrollment. Sign up for coverage

For general information about the three levels of plans, go here. For information about coverage and to sign up, go here.

But before buying a plan, state officials recommend that people use the window-shopping tool to compare plans, which vary among different areas.

Oregon also offers free help through experts in health insurance. Find someone for the marketplace, or healthcare.gov, by clicking here.

“Premiums can start as low as a dollar, sometimes even less with the financial help, and they go up from there,” Coven said.

The average tax credit last year was around $500 per person a month, Coven said. That translated to an out-of-pocket premium cost per person of about $225.

Subsidies are based on the marketplace’s silver, or mid-range plans, and there’s no upper income limit to qualify for financial help. Individuals can also sign up for a bronze plan, which has the least expensive premium but costs more out-of-pocket for services, or gold plans, which have the highest premiums but lowest out-of-pocket costs.

All plans include 10 essential benefits, which include emergency care and hospitalization, prescriptions, mental health and addiction services, lab services and maternity and pediatric care. The plans also include free preventive care, which is mandated by the Affordable Care Act. All Oregon plans also offer coverage for abortions, acupuncture and chiropractic care and the first three primary care or mental health care visits cost $5 even before the deductible kicks in.

“The coverage is very robust,” Coven said.

The state has offered catastrophic coverage, which is designed to cover unexpected medical costs. And its website says it still does, but Coven said Thursday in a follow-up call that they will not be available for 2024.

Enrollment on the marketplace increased in recent year, hitting nearly 147,000 in 2022 and nearly 142,000 last year. Coven expects 2024 enrollment figures to increase over this year’s as a result of the thousands of people who are being bumped off Medicaid because they no longer qualify. Since April, state officials have been auditing the nearly 1.5 million Oregonians on Medicaid to see whether they still meet the income and other qualifications as part of the end of extra Medicaid benefits during the pandemic.

Although a majority of people on Medicaid have retained coverage, the health authority’s dashboard shows that more than 62,000 have lost the free medical and dental coverage.

“We’re doing everything we can to make sure that folks understand what other coverage options are available and provide direct assistance for enrollment,” Coven said.

She said officials have sent out 50,000 letters to those who’ve lost Medicaid coverage. It’s not yet clear how many will remain insured by buying health insurance. The state increased the percentage of those who have health insurance during the pandemic thanks to federal and state programs. The state’s insured rate stands at 96%, though that could fall if a lot of people who lose Medicaid do not buy coverage. (SOURCE)

Food Insecurity Rises in Oregon

The percentage of Oregonians whoaren’t sure where their next meal will come fromhas risen steadily since 2020 after a significant drop over recent years, new data shows.

Why it matters: Even with near-record low unemployment across the state, hundreds of thousands of people in Oregon are experiencing food insecurity.

Details: Food insecurity means that at times during the year, a given household couldn’t afford enough food for one or more of its members, write Axios’ Emily Peck and Kavya Beheraj.

• Those with “very low” food security often skip meals.

By the numbers: According to new USDA data, 11.2% of Oregon households experienced food insecurity over 2020-2022, and 4% were at the extreme end with “very low” food security, compared to the U.S. three-year average.

Context: Three-year averages — especially spanning the pandemic — paint only the big picture, Oregon Food Bank senior policy manager Matt Newell-Ching tells Axios.

• Oregon Food Bank data shows a “massive spike” in food requests in the six months after the pandemic hit.
• But as government cash payments and temporary, emergency food benefits kicked in, demand “kind of came back to earth,” Newell-Ching said.

Yes but: When COVID-era benefits ended, the need for food started to rise.

• “It was so frustrating” to see programs that helped alleviate hunger “just taken away,” Newell-Ching said.

Flashback: Oregon struggled with hunger for years — in 1999 the state was shocked to find itself ranked first in incidents of “outright hunger” by the USDA.

• A decade later, it remained in the top five worst states for food security.
• Oregon changed that in part by signing up more people for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), says Mark Edwards, an Oregon State University professor and researcher who sits on the state’s Hunger Task Force.
• He also said the improvement in Oregon’s hunger levels coincided with increases in the state minimum wage.

Threat level: Edwards, who regularly researches local data on hunger, says food insecurity hits people with limited means hardest, such as renters or single parent families.

• In communities of color data often shows “rates that are almost twice that of the rest of the state,” Edwards tells Axios.
• Older people are hardest to get signed up for SNAP, Edwards says, with fewer than half of those eligible signed up.

State of play: At Southwest Portland’s Lift UP food pantry, staff say rising inflation — including high housing costs — is increasing demand.

• “Food costs more, everything costs more,” CaSaundra Johnson, Lift UP development manager, tells Axios.

The intrigue: While waiting for the pantry to open last week, Alejandro Saucedo told Axios he appreciates the fresh food Lift UP provides, which is otherwise outside his means.

• “The amount of produce, and how good it is,” he said.

The bottom line: Newell-Ching says he expects food insecurity in Oregon to keep climbing unless policymakers increase the child tax credit and strengthen SNAP. (SOURCE)

David’s Chair places Life-Changing Electric All-Terrain Track Chair in the City of Florence

David’s Chair Outdoor Mobility Systems (David’s Chair) has added another location for one of their all-terrain electric Track Chairs to be used for free.  The city of Florence in Lane County Oregon has now become the new home and the seventh location where a Track Chair provided by David’s Chair will be permanently stationed. The chair can be reserved now at davidschair.org and accessed and used at Heceta Beach County Park at 88466 1^st Ave. in Florence.

CEO and Founder Steve Furst said, “We have been working for several months to make this happen. We are excited to continue to work with the Florence community and wonderful volunteers that are helping facilitate the use of this track chair.” Initially the all-terrain track chair will be available three days a week with hopes of expanding the use in the spring. “I am so proud of the work that Jeff Kallevig (Operations Manager for NW Oregon) has been able to do. He has taken on this project and coordinated with the volunteers and is working with the City of Florence, Lane County and other local organizations to provide support for this location”, said Steve Furst. “We also want to thank the Driftwood Shores Resort for providing a place on the edge of their property near the beach access trail to store our track chair.”

David’s Chair and Oregon Parks Forever have partnered to provide this new way to get out on the beach and into nature for people with mobility challenges. The two non-profits have set a goal of having 10 locations along and near the Oregon Coast where mobility challenged visitors can pick up and use an electric all-terrain Track Chair at no charge.

Anyone with mobility impairments, requiring the assistance of wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, canes or crutches, will be able to use these chairs free of charge.

These chairs provide a new freedom for a mobility challenged park visitor – to get off the pavement and out into nature.

With increased accessibility to trails, lakes, rivers and beaches, through demanding conditions like sand, snow and mud, mobility-impaired visitors will be able to participate in activities never-before possible.

From birdwatching and fishing, to riding along the beach, to simply enjoying the fresh air and solitude of nature, these all-terrain chairs will invite many new people to share the wonders of the great outdoors in our parks.

See these chairs in action at: https://davidschair.org/video-gallery/

Track Chairs are also currently available for free use at Tigard, Seaside, Manzanita, Pacific City, Netarts, Gold Beach and White City. Newport Oregon should be up and running within a couple of weeks.

Two locations (Tigard and White City) also allow guests to pick up a trailer and chair and take it to their location of choice. Linn County’s location will also offer this “Tow and Go” opportunity.

Reservations for free use must be made at least three days in advance at: https://davidschair.org. 

About David’s Chair Outdoor Mobility Systems

David’s Chair is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit based in White City, Oregon with a mission to provide people with mobility challenges the free use of electric all-terrain track chairs offering freedom and independence to get outdoors and experience terrain and conditions that would otherwise be unavailable to them. The organization currently has 20 electric all-terrain track chairs and 7 trailers, available in many areas of Oregon for use for free by people with mobility challenges who reserve them at www.davidschair.org.

Contact: Steve Furst, CEO 541/941-8976 steve@davidschair.org

About Oregon Parks Forever
Since 1995, Oregon Parks Forever has been raising funds to help fund programs and projects that enhance the experience and accessibility of Oregon’s parks & forests. Emphasis is placed on projects that protect existing facilities and amenities, increase park accessibility, provide healthy activities and educate the future stewards of our public lands.  Oregon Parks Forever is a statewide nonprofit organization whose mission includes working with federal, state, local and tribal public land managers to enhance and preserve special places and experiences in all Oregon parks.   For more information, visit orparksforever.org/

Work On Copco No. 2 Dam Removal Completed

Crews put the final touches on the removal of the Copco No. 2 Dam this week.

Removal of the dam structure was completed in September, and crews spent the past month removing the remaining diversion infrastructure, grading the river channel, and performing erosion control.

That work prepared the river canyon for consistent river flows, likely commencing within 30 days, which the canyon hasn’t seen in 98 years.

Currently, flows in the canyon are fluctuating due to work being done to prepare Copco No. 1 for drawdown.

“Copco No 2 is the first dam to be removed due to its small stature, location, and lack of reservoir,” said Mark Bransom, CEO of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), the entity tasked with the removal of the four lower Klamath hydroelectric dams. “However, while Copco No. 2 was significantly smaller than the other dams slated for removal, it still had a significant impact on the river.”

Copco No. 2 was located right below Copco No. 1 in a steep river canyon, commonly known as Ward’s Canyon, named after Kitty Ward, a Shasta woman who lived in the valley now submerged by the reservoir created by Copco No 1.

Completed in 1925, Copco No. 2 was a diversion dam that funneled the river’s flows out of the canyon and into a tunnel system that sent the water to the Copco No. 2 powerhouse located downstream, essentially dewatering the 1.7-mile-long canyon.

Without the river’s presence in the canyon, trees grew in the riverbed which, when exposed to consistent river flows, would have died off creating a hazard for future recreationists. Those trees were removed in September in collaboration with area tribes.

“Seeing the Klamath River flow through this canyon after being diverted for nearly a century is inspiring,” said Laura Hazlett, COO of KRRC. “It makes me excited for everything else that is to come with the removal of the other three dams.”

The remaining three dams, Copco No. 1, Iron Gate, and JC Boyle are slated for removal next year.

In January, KRRC will implement the drawdown, the slow draining of the reservoirs, which is expected to take 3-5 months, depending on the amount of water entering the system as a result of spring runoff.

Once the drawdown is complete, restoration and deconstruction activities will begin in earnest. All three dams are expected to be completely removed by November 2024.

In a related story,  Researchers at Oregon State University have concluded that a large-scale dam removal and restoration project currently underway on the Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California will help salmon populations, according to college officials.

The college said a group of scientists published their findings in a new paper that concludes salmon populations devastated by disease and other factors will be aided by the removal of four hydroelectric dams along the river. The project will not, however, fully alleviate challenges faced by the species, OSU said.

The researchers said that factors that affect salmon health include stream-flow levels, water temperature, and pathogens. Opening up habitat and creating longer fish migration routes by removing the dams will decrease fish disease risk by flushing out pathogens and unclogging a pathogen hot spot that formed below the Iron Gate Dam about five miles south of the California-Oregon border east of Interstate 5, OSU officials said.

Oregon Parks and Recreation To Discuss Drone Rules And Maps

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) will livestream a virtual meeting Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. to present draft drone take-off and landing classification criteria to be used in future park drone use maps. The agency will then invite the public to share their views on the criteria from Oct. 23 through 5 p.m. on Dec. 29.

The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube for the public here.

Attendees who want to ask questions during the Q&A portion of the meeting must register beforehand here.

Although the formal rulemaking process for drone take-off and landing began in 2021, the agency temporarily stopped in April 2022 to form a work group and explore the matter in more detail.

The work group included various partners including conservation groups, drone users, state and federal agencies and met from June 2022 through the summer of 2023.

OPRD’s region resource and Geographic Information Services (GIS) staff, alongside park managers reviewed the draft criteria and applied them to three sample areas, one from each region of state parks.

Feedback will be reviewed by agency staff and the work group as part of a final report to the OPRD Director Lisa Sumption, who will then decide whether to direct staff to resume public administrative rulemaking or do more work on the proposals.

Individuals who require special accommodations to view the meetings should contact Jo Niehaus at least three days in advance of the meeting at 503-580-9210 or jo.niehaus@oprd.oregon.gov .

Oregon is Searching for its Next Poet Laureate

Oregon is searching for its next Poet Laureate. Over the two-year-term, the Poet Laureate promotes the art of poetry, encourages literacy and learning, addresses issues relating to the humanities and reflects on public life in Oregon.

Information about the Poet Laureate program, how to nominate the next Poet Laureate, Anis, and how to request an appearance can be found on this website. Please also check out our Facebook page.

Nominations are accepted through January 8th, and poets are welcome to nominate themselves. The next Poet Laureate term begins in May. MORE INFO: https://culturaltrust.org/oregon-poet-laureate/?fbclid=IwAR0O-Gx81HjAKwXHwyrEVtxpgyXma9XRb5xwacG_o57ga3_lKUwIbPRMXks